The Hathershaw College 3.48

The Hathershaw College is a coeducational, Secondary Academy for 11- to 16-year-olds in Oldham, Greater Manchester, England.In 2007, OFSTED rated the school as "good". In 2010, OFSTED described it as "good with outstanding features". In 2014, the school was judged to be requiring improvement overall. In 2016, the OFSTED report described the school as "good".School historyAs Hathershaw Technical High School, it opened in 1955; it had a selective intake. The school was housed in three blocks (a main building, a science block and a craft/engineering block). The school was sponsored by the aviation manufacturer Avro, and the ground plan of the main building was inspired by the outline of a Lancaster bomber. It competed for intake with Oldham's state grammar schools, but offered a more technical syllabus. Provision of equipment and machinery for metalwork and woodwork was considered to be amongst the finest available nationally.In 1966 the school became a co-educational comprehensive school. In 1970 it was made into an 'upper-school' for pupils in the 14–18 age range, supplied by two separate 'lower-schools', Greenhill and Fitton Hill. The two feeder schools, which were on sites significantly distant from each other and Hathershaw School, educated pupils from 11 to 14 years of age. In the school year 1977–78 the system was reorganized and Hathershaw again catered for the full 11 to 18 age range, with sixth form entry. In the same year the school uniform colours changed from blue/black to maroon/grey, at present they are maroon/black. The loss of selective entry in 1966 and the system of split-site feeder schools led to a period of falling academic attainment. The trend was reversed after the appointment of John Cole to the headship in 1976. He has been credited as having "transformed Hathershaw School."